Photo: Robert Graham · CC BY-SA 2.0Pelton and Ouston stands out for criminal damage & arson: 3.9 times the rate of a typical town its size
More crime per resident is recorded in 17% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Taking everything together, Pelton and Ouston scores C− (#15 of 52 in County Durham): more crime per resident than 80% of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026. In a usual year, 31.0 violent and sexual offences and 20.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are logged per 1,000 inhabitants. Recorded violence held steady in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Pelton and Ouston
More crime than many places its size
Of 546 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people, Pelton and Ouston has the 421st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Paddock Wood, Bagillt and Hayle, higher than Longstanton and Northstowe, Yapton and Gwersyllt. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 18% of Pelton and Ouston’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 45% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Pelton and Ouston’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 1,128 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Pelton and Ouston against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Pelton and Ouston runs highest on criminal damage & arson (17.7 per 1,000 against 4.5), other crime (3.6 per 1,000 against 1.5) and anti-social behaviour (20.4 per 1,000 against 8.8). Shoplifting sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 223 | 30.5 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 149 | 20.4 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 129 | 17.7 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 34 | 4.7 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 28 | 3.8 | 3.2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 26 | 3.6 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 16 | 2.2 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 15 | 2.1 | 2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 10 | 1.4 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 9 | 1.2 | 1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 6 | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 4 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 3 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
1 in 6 Pelton and Ouston residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
18% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 45% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime domain scores the risk of violence, burglary, theft and criminal damage where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Pelton and Ouston’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of England’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
Of 546 towns its size, Pelton and Ouston is 421st from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merley Dorset | 5,489 | 8.4 | 2.8 | 3.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 299 | Barnard Castle County Durham | 5,783 | 24.9 | 13.7 | 14.7 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 418 | Longstanton and Northstowe Cambridgeshire | 5,278 | 35.2 | 16.1 | 7.4 | C− |
| 419 | Yapton West Sussex | 6,337 | 31.9 | 19.4 | 12 | C− |
| 420 | Gwersyllt Clwyd | 7,112 | 38.1 | 13.4 | 9.7 | C− |
| 421 | Pelton and Ouston County Durham | 7,305 | 31 | 20.4 | 6.8 | C− |
| 422 | Crediton Devon | 7,971 | 39.3 | 12.2 | 15.6 | C− |
| 423 | Rainworth Nottinghamshire | 7,990 | 41.6 | 10 | 7.1 | C− |
| 424 | London Colney Hertfordshire | 7,932 | 33.7 | 17.9 | 59.7 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 476 | Ushaw Moor and Bearpark County Durham | 6,483 | 41.8 | 17.7 | 15.4 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 480 | Sacriston County Durham | 5,186 | 38.5 | 23.3 | 17.4 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 485 | Brandon County Durham | 9,508 | 43.5 | 19 | 9.6 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 546 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Pelton and Ouston, and others in County Durham.
Crime in Pelton and Ouston per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 22 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 6 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 66% of Pelton and Ouston’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 13% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (59% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 7% of violent and 3% of household crimes reached court.
The latest outcome police.uk shows for each crime recorded in the first of the three years (September 2023 to August 2024), so most cases have closed. 375 crimes.
How crime in Pelton and Ouston has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -3% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +32% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -5% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -20% (towns its size +0%).
Where in Pelton and Ouston police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 133 | 31% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 76 | 37% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 43 | 42% anti-social behaviour |
police.uk places each crime at an anonymous map point; some are named for the kind of place (a supermarket, a car park), and each row adds up every place of that kind in Pelton and Ouston. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
No one died in a collision on Pelton and Ouston’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 17 collisions with injuries inside Pelton and Ouston in five years. 3 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Pelton and Ouston is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Pelton and Ouston’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 6 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Pelton and Ouston had 3.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured uses the Department for Transport’s adjusted figures, which even out the police forces’ different ways of recording injuries. There’s no national rate here: more than half of road deaths in England and Wales (58%) happen outside every town’s built-up area. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Pelton and Ouston’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Pelton and Ouston
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pelton and Ouston | 7,305 | 31 | 20.4 | C− |
| Urpeth | 2,048 | 7 | 7.5 | A |
| Newfield | 1,529 | 19.8 | 4.8 | B+ |
| Whitehill | 1,679 | 45.1 | 21.6 | D |
| Chester-le-Street | 23,554 | 37.2 | 18.9 | C− |
| Birtley | 13,840 | 32.8 | 20.6 | C− |
| Kibblesworth | 1,500 | 22.8 | 9.9 | B− |
| Washington | 51,318 | 32.7 | 20.4 | C− |
Pelton and Ouston records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Urpeth, 0.8 miles away, records 7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Pelton and Ouston’s 31.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Pelton and Ouston sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Pelton and Ouston
Is Pelton and Ouston safe?
Police recorded 31 violent and sexual offences and 20.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Pelton and Ouston’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 20% of UK towns. Among 546 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people, Pelton and Ouston is 421st from the least crime. 18% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Pelton and Ouston?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 32%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 20%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Pelton and Ouston?
Violence & sexual offences: 223 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (129) and public order (34), with 149 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Pelton and Ouston compare with Gateshead?
Gateshead records 44.1 violent and sexual offences and 24 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Pelton and Ouston’s 31 and 20.4, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the built-up-area boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.